Combined bathroom stool and shoeshine box



Feb. 10, 1953 J. KA HL COMBINED BATHROOM STOOL AND SHOESHINE BOX I:iled Aug. 22, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR.

JAMES KAHL. BY M 7577271711 6) Feb. 10. 1953 J. KAHL 2,627,622

COMBINED BATHROOM STOOL AND SHOESHINE BOX Filed Aug. 22, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 IN VEN TOR. JAM E s MAHL Patented Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I COMBINED BATHROOM sTooL AND SHOESHINE BOX 1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful im provements in articles of furniture, and, more particularly, the aim is to provide a novel and valuable furniture article constituting a combined bathroom stool and shoe shine box.

An object of the invention is to provide an article of furniture as above incorporating an improved storage cabinet for the shoe shining materials, such as pastes, polishes and the like, and for the shoe shining implements, such as daubers, brushes, polishing cloths and the like, with the cabinet having a plurality of interior compartments each adapted for the accommodation of a single suchmaterial or implement, and with these compartments so arranged and with a single normally closed swing door so provided that with said door closed all the above mentioned compartments are closed and with said door-open all said compartments are open.

Another object is to provide an article of furniture all as above, in which, further, said furniture article has permanently carried thereby a footrest of the kind on which a shoe to be shined may be placed and heldby thrust of its heel against an intercepting shoulder extending across the footrest; said footrest being fixed on a'swingably mounted panel which when positioned at one limit of swing thereof serves a plurality of useful purposes and which when positioned at the other limit of swing thereof also serves a plurality of useful purposes.

With said panel at one of its said limits of swing, as it: normally is, the panel participates in the establishment of a smooth and comfortable seat across the entirety of the top of the, new furniture article, thereby to make of the latter a stool, with now the footrest concealed and depending substantially vertically from the panel and into the interior of the storage cabi net in the stool and at a location above a general. storage compartment other than any of those already mentioned; and with said panel at the other of its limits of swing, the footrest is rigidly erected'above the top of the cabinet and at the same time said swing door is freed for being swung to open up all the compartments which are present for storing shoe shine materials and implements.

As'the invention is preferably carried out, a number of swingably mounted wall structuresare provided, one of which is said swing doorythis hingedly hung for swing about a vertical axis, and below called the inner door, another of which is said panel, this hingedly mounted for swing about a horizontal axis, and another of which, below called the outer door, also hingedly hung for swing about a vertical axis, is so placed that at one of its limits of swing, that .is, at its limit of swing at which it normally remains, it constitutes apparently merely one ofthe side walls of. the

2 cabinet, while at-theother of its limits of swing it opens up the aforesaid generalstorage 'com partment and in so doing frees the inner door for the full swing thereof required to open all the compartments which are present for storing shoe shine materials and'implements.

A further object proposes hingedly mounting the, outer door so that it can be swung to an open position, when the interior of the general'stor'age compartment is not full of articles, at such times as the stool is to be used for polishing shoes in a manner so that outer door will be out of'the way when it is desired to draw a polishing cloth rapidly to and fro across the top of a shoe for polishing the same after the wax polish has been applied.

The invention further proposes providing the outer door with a pivotally mounted top portion which can be lowered during such times when the outer door cannot be, opened because of things contained within the general storage compartment to, provide a clearance for drawing the polishing. cloth rapidly to and fro across the top of a shoe.

It is a further object of the present invention to construct a combined bathroom stool and shoe shine box which is simple and durable, which can be manufactured and sold at, a reasonable cost and which is efiective for its intended v purposes.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

- In the accompanying drawings forming a ma terial part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the combined bathroom stool and shoe shine box constructed in accordance with the. present invention.

- Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. l, but with the top panel in its open operative position.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of' Fig. 1 but with the top portion of the outer door in a lowered position and the top panel in its. open operative position.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of Fig. 1, but with the outer door in its open, position and the top panel in its open operative position.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4. but with the inner door in its open position.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View taken 'on the line 66of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is'an enlarged partial vertical sectional view taken on the line 11 of Fig. 1.

The combined bathroom stool and shoe shine box, according to the present invention; includes a pair of like side walls 20 a rear wall. 2|", a floor wa1l'22 and a fixed top wall 23.

These various walls'are conveniently madeof suitable material. M the shelves 2'! and 30 is of a size, as will be noted,

wood, but they may be made of any suitable material selected. Said walls are suitably permanently interconnected to provide a single rigid structure.

The top of the cabinet provided by said structure is permanently only partially closed, by the Wall 23; but the remainder of the top of the cabinet is normally closed by a panel 24 which is swingably mounted by way of hinges 25. Suitably rigidly secured to the panel 24, at the bottom side thereof, there is a footrest '26, which may be made of metal, plastic, wood or any other suitable material. The panel 24, also, is conveniently made of wood; which material is now believed to be the preferable one.

Within the cabinet and below the fixed top wall 23, a plurality of upper compartments are provided consequent upon the presence of a shelf structure incorporating a shelf 21 and a plu- 'rality of upstanding like transverse partitions 28 suitably fixed between the shelf 21' and the top wall 23. These compartments are desirably proportioned, as indicated, for having stored therein cans of shoe polish, shoe paste, etc., etc. The shelf structure 21-28 may be made of plastic, wood or any other suitable material. The ends of the shelf 21 are secured to the inside faces of the side walls 20.

Below said upper compartments, another compartment is provided between the shelf 21 and a lower shelf 30 supported at opposite ends on the inside faces of the two side walls the shelf may be made of plastic, wood or any other This compartment between suitable for the storage therein of a combined brush and dauber or of separate units, one a brush and the other a dauber.

An inner door 32 is pivotally supported on one of the side walls 23 by hinges 33 and is positioned so that when swung closed all the compartments below the fixed top wall 23 and above the lower shelf 30 will be closed, but when swung open all the said compartments will be opened;

and said inner door 32 is also so present that 5 Whether it is closed or open access to a lowermost large general storage compartment, this extending over the floor wall 22 and partially lying under the shelf 30, is not affected. The

inner door 32 is provided with a knob 34 at its free edge so that a grip can be had thereon for opening the door.

Said large general storage compartment may be used for holding polishing cloths of different kinds, as of one kind for black shoes and of another kind for tan'shoes; for holding bottles of liquid polish; and for holding similar materials or implements.

An outer door 35 which constitutes one of the "side walls of the cabinet is provided for closing the said general storage compartment. This door 35 is hung on hinges 36 for pivotal movement on a vertical axis;

The doors 32 and 35 may be made of wood,

plastic or any other suitable material.

Normally, when the general storage compartment is not too full or when the articles are so neatly positioned therein that they will not fall out when the outer door 35 is opened, that outer door may be pivoted to its full open posirestedon the top of the footrest 26 to polish 4 the same to a high shine; With the door in the full open position there is no danger of the hand holding the end of the cloth on the door side of the footrest 26 from striking and being injured by the top edge of the door.

Means is provided in connection with the outer door 35 for providing a clearance so that the polishing cloth can be pulled rapidly to and fro across the top of the shoe positioned on the footrest 26, during those times when the general storage compartment is too full or the contents so haphazardly arranged that they would fall from the compartment with the outer door open. The clearance providing means is characterized by a top portion 43 which is cut from the free top corner of the outer door 35. That top portion 40 is pivotally mounted on the door 35 by means of hinges 4|. Normally, the top portion 4| is in the raised position shown in Fig. l and pivots with the outer door 35. However, when the outer door cannot, for some reason, be pivoted to an open position to provide the required clearance for pulling the polishing cloth across the top of a shoe rested on the footrest 26, the top portion 40 can then be lowered to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 6 to provide the necessary clearance.

Spring pressed latches, of conventional construction are provided for holding the inner door 32 closed, for holding the outer door 35 closed and for retaining the top portion 40 in a raised position relative to the outer door '35. Each of the spring pressed latches is alike in construction and each includes a tubular casing 42, see particularly Fig. 7, mounted on one of the parts and housing a ball 43 which is urged into an operative extended position from the casing 42 by a spring 44 within that casing. In its extended position, the projecting portion of the ball 43 engages a recessed retainer member 45 mounted on the other of the parts. When the inner door 32, the outer door 35 or the top portion 49 are pivoted from closed to open positions and vice versa, the balls 43 merely snap into and out of the retainer members 45. r

Thus, a light weight yet sturdy and long lived furniture article is provided, which normally is useful as a stool and at the same time as a storage cabinet in which each of various shoe shine materials and implements is maintained in its appointed place, but which may be transformed quickly into a shoe shine stand having a footrest rigidly erected thereon and hence above yet conveniently adjacent to the storage places for said materials and implements.

On lifting the panel 24 from its position shown in Fig. l and then swinging the same in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2 to 6, the footrest 26 becomes rigidly erected in readiness for use, and the top of the cabinet, at its portion adjacent to the outer door 35, is simultaneously opened. On swinging the outer door 35 open, thereby further to open up the large main storage compartment partially lying under the shelf 30, the inner'door 32 may be swung out as shown in Fig. 5, thus opening up all the other compartments. 7

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to In a. combined stool and shoe shine box, a cabinet for having stored therein shoe shining supplies and having a top wall structure for normally closing in the cabinet over the entirety of the top thereof whereby then said top wall structure constitutes the stool seat, said top wall structure including a permanently fixed top wall portion and an adjacent panel hingedly connected to said fixed top wall portion, a footrest fixedly carried by said panel at what is normally the under side thereof whereby when said panel is swung to participate in the provision of said stool seat the footrest is concealed and dependent into the interior of the cabinet and when said panel is swung through 180 to overlie said permanently fixed top wall portion the footrest is rigidly erected above the top of said cabinet, said cabinet having an open side beneath said panel, a door pivotally mounted on said cabinet to close said open side and to swing on a vertical axis, and means on said door for providing a clearance so that a polishing cloth can be freely pulled to and fro across the top of a shoe resting on said footrest, said clearance providing means comprising a top portion cut from said outer door,

6 said top portion being hinged to said outer door to swing on a horizontal axis so as to be lowerable out of the way along the outer face of said outer door, and means releasably holding said top portion in its raised position.

JAMES KAI-IL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

